


Face

by stoicscripter



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: DBH AU, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-09-24 19:47:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17106995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stoicscripter/pseuds/stoicscripter
Summary: Hanzo finds an Android that looks exactly like his dead brother being used for sexual gratification; this disrespect for the dead won't stand! Somebody at Cyber Life will pay..! as soon as he can pull himself back together while Android Genji continues to pull him apart.





	1. Chapter 1

Hanzo is mortified and captivated all at once; the brown eyes that sparkle mischeviously beneath a pair of strong eyebrows, the shape of his jaw and crook of his nose, the short crop of bright green hair... everything about the man on his knees publicly giving a blow job to any man who asks is unmistakably Genji. Except for one small detail... On the side of his head over his temple a small blue ring of light glows.

Hanzo has been frozen in place watching for some time; it's as if he's stuck in a dream... or a nightmare and the spell doesn't break until Genji--the android who looks like Genji, turns to look at him. He opens his mouth to show off the mess of cum he'd just been given and Hanzo feels sick to his stomach as the Android who looks exactly like his dead brother swallows the entire mess before he speaks with Genji's exact voice, "There's one more man before you baby, and then I'm all yours and you can stop drooling." He laughs just like Genji and winks before he turns away to continue the job he was programmed for.

It takes Hanzo a second before his shock is replaced by rage that he's barely able to contain; some sick fuck at Cyber Life had taken his dead brother's image and made a sex toy out of him and he was going to find and kill everyone who willingly and knowingly had a hand in this disrespectful display!

\---

The Android that looks exactly like Genji is expensive to buy-their most popular attraction!-but he couldn't allow such disrespect to continue on for even one moment longer, the fee is nothing compared to preserving what he could of Genji’s honor. His intention was simply to buy and destroy it so that no one could ever use his brother's image in such a way again, but the memory of his most egregious sin is much too strong.

When the arrow is level with the blue-now red-circle on the android's head he can swear that the Android's expression flickered into fear... and he can't do it. Genji-the real Genji-had given him a look of fear so intense that it had haunted his nightmares for years and almost certainly projected itself onto the emotionless face of the machine before him. Genji is dead. He knows this intimately and personally; he had carved his own brother to pieces in a fit of selfish rage. This thing isn't Genji; but it has his face and he cannot bring himself to destroy the thing that wears his skin... He cannot kill Genji again.

The bow and arrow are lowered and the ring of light slowly turns to yellow and eventually back to blue.

\---

"Why do you look exactly like my dead brother?" he asks it, perhaps it has information on who had stolen Genji's face so blatantly, "Why do you sound exactly like my brother!?" He's angry and in response the ring on the Android's temple turns yellow.

It hesitated to speak as if it were nervous, but that can't possibly be the case... Androids do not have emotions, it is a thing not a person, "Cyber Life would like to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or distress my appearance may have caused for you. Any resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental and unintended by the visual artists at Cyber Life Incorporated. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact Cyber Life customer service 24/7 where a human representative is always happy to--"

"Coincidental!?" Hanzo snapped which made the Android immediately shut up, its mouth pressed into a flat line though it betrayed no emotion as a machine should. Good, at the very least they hadn't completely copied Genji's personality onto this thing; if it had been like the real Genji it certainly would have been angry at being interrupted. It really made interrogating this thing a little easier.

Hanzo leaned in closer to it and watched the yellow ring flicker with a bit of red but ultimately remain yellow; androids did not have any emotion, but this seemed to indicate that it was able to understand emotion to an extent and likely determined how it would behave going forward. "How is an exact copy of my brother's face and voice and hair and... and EVERYTHING a coincidence!?"

"If you have questions or concerns about my appearance please contact Cyber Life customer service 24/7 where a human representative is always happy to help. I will dial the number and stay on hold for you until a representative is available to take your call." It offered, but Hanzo declined; he doubted that he would get more than the same broken record "coincidence" speech that Genji--the Android had just given him.

\---

Part of Hanzo wanted to believe that this really was just a terrible coincidence; perhaps his memory of Genji was poor after all these years of memories drowned by pools of blood and smothered in the sound of desperate screams. Maybe Genji's voice was deeper than he remembered... Maybe his nose was a little flatter or higher... Maybe his eyes couldn't actually pierce into his soul with a single glance that haunted him with the question Genji had choked in a dying breath, "Why..?"

It didn't have emotions so how could the fake smile it gave be anything like that of the real Genji who was long dead and gone? It couldn't, he had to be seeing things; and yet... "My name, Master?" He didn't like the title, but he understood it was part of its programming; it needed to try and elevate the fragile ego of the pathetic human desperate enough to buy an android for the sole purpose of sex, he would change the title it would use for him later, "You may call me whatever you like; but if you prefer to use the name I was activated with then you may call me Genji."

Genji... Genji...

How could any of this be a coincidence!?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Giving the gift of Shimadacest this Christmas.

Hanzo had thought that the worst thing about owning an android copy of his dead brother would be the constant stream of painful memories and the well deserved guilt that went along with it, and he would be right if all the Android was, was a copy; but Android Genji was a sex toy and he desperately wanted--was programmed to act like he desperately wanted to be used for this purpose. Once they were settled in the motel, and Hanzo was no longer as vocally furious with the Android's existence, it stepped up to the bed and began to undress--no, it was a strip tease. The first button slid out of place and the Android copy of his brother exposed a shoulder as its hips swayed from one side to the other, "Master... it's getting late and I've been such a bad boy today."

Sickness crept up into his chest again and it took everything Hanzo had to hold it down; he didn't know how this thing could make an expression so eerily similar to reality. He had been unfortunate enough to see the real Genji flirt in just this way so very many years ago and it was sickening to see how accurate they had copied his brother's mannerisms. Whoever had done this had to have been close to Genji at some point before his demise; a former lover could have done the trick, but he'd never thought that one of Genji's partners would be smart enough and accurate enough to do something this precise... especially not after all these years.

"Put your clothes back on and do not call me Master!" As ordered it stopped what it was doing and fixed the clothing it wore without missing a beat, it didn't even fumble with the button under his cold stare.

"I am very sorry, Sir; from now on I will ask your permission before we engage in further activities." it promised as it bowed its head in apology.

"There won't BE any activities!" He snapped and once again the ring of blue turned yellow as it apologized a second time and bowed its head. It stepped away into a corner of the room and remained there, stationary and silent as the machine it clearly was.

\---

Finding the culprit was more difficult than he imagined; none of the artists employed by Cyber Life had any prior connection to Genji that he could find, and all the information he uncovered supported the Android's claim that its resemblance to his dead brother was coincidental. There was no possible way that it was, of course, but finding information on the Android that looked like his brother was difficult. He had asked it for its model and serial number and learned that it was currently one of a kind; an experimental design with little public information.

The model was HP500 and there was little information on Android Genji's predecessors as well; it was curious that an experimental unit would be sold to a seedy bar in a relatively small town to serve as a sex toy as opposed to somewhere with more business to advertise whatever advancements this android had over existing models. It was as if they wanted to hide this Android's existence but still wanted whatever data it gathered and transmitted back to them at the end of the day. He wondered what would happen if he disabled the Android's ability to send them that information; but he didn't have the expertise to try such a thing, and the last thing he wanted to do was damage it trying when he'd already made such a big deal about killing it in the first place.

At the very least it was a small blessing that it was one of a kind; he would not have to hunt down more instances of his brother's face in the world. It was hard enough dealing with one and its ability to stir up memories best left forgotten and taint them in the very next moment with a cheap smile and sexual comment. He hated the Android for what it did to the memory of Genji, but there seemed to be nothing he could do to end the stream of sexual queries; it seemed to be poor design to make a sex toy that refused to take "no" for an answer, but what did he know about the behavior a sex toy android should have..?

\---

Nightmares plagued his sleep, but this was nothing new; for years Genji appeared in the depths of his dreams, his mutilated corpse sought revenge that it could never attain as Hanzo always awoke before his death could be finalized. The worst had been immediately following Genji's death, but over time the horror of his younger brother's disfigured face as it saught revenge had faded into shadow; but now that he spent every day in the presence of the Android that wore his dead brother's face the visage was as vivid and brutal as ever.

"You know..." Android Genji said to him one morning after it brought him coffee to take the edge off his nightmares, "You would probably have a much more restful sleep if you tired yourself out beforehand..." Its voice lowered and became more suggestive as its hand slid up his arm, "I could help you with that."

He slapped it away as he had several times before, but he knew already that it wouldn't stop; perhaps it was programmed to persist until it found someone who would give in, and without another target he would continue to be inundated with its flirting. At least until he had it reprogrammed, but doing such a thing could be disastrous in ways he wasn't prepared to think about...

... because he was becoming weak. It looked and sounded so much like his brother, and with its stubborn persistence it sometimes behaved like him too. If he had it reprogrammed it felt like he would be destroying what little of his real brother actually resided in this thing. It wasn't Genji. He told himself so over and over, but after countless nights of it practically begging to join him in bed for certain activities he relented conditionally, "We are not engaging in any kind of sexual activities, you will lay there next to me quietly while I sleep."

"Yes Sir." It agreed, and from then on until he fell asleep it always lay next to him motionlessly; but by morning he always woke to it in his personal space, either with its head on his chest or forehead pressed into his back between his shoulder blades. He did not have the heart to tell it to stop and his nightmares became a little less intense.

\---

As it turned out the Android with his brother's face was not as obedient as he'd hoped; more than once he awoke to the feeling of warm hands carefully trying to tug his shirt up without awakening him. The first time he caught it he had ordered it never to touch him again and had banned it from joining him in bed for over a week, but inevitably the face it wore as it desperately tried to attain his attention in the days that followed wore him down and he let it back.

The second time he awoke with it pressed against his back, its hands rubbing his nipples through his shirt as its hot breath puffed against his neck, "Please." It protested as he grabbed it by its wrists and he hesitated for the briefest moment as a memory of his brother assaulted him; Genji was young, barely 10 years old and begging to join his bed out of loneliness and the fear that surrounded the death of their mother.

"Please don't push me away." Genji--the Android! The Android that absolutely wasn't his brother at all! The Android whispered into his ear, "I'm trying so hard to be everything that you want! I don't want to be thrown away... Please..."

"I'm not throwing you away." He assured it as he turned to face it. Even though it didn't have feelings it was clear that it was capable of choosing and expressing the appropriate one for the situation; it couldn't possibly be truly afraid of being thrown away, it was just a machine and another tactic to get it the sex it was programmed to seek. It was only a machine, but the light on its temple was yellow for the first time that wasn't in response to its owner's anger, "I don't want sex, I don't want anything from you."

"Then... why did you buy me if you won't use me for what I was programmed for? I don't know how to behave for you!" it appeared frustrated, it was amazing that an Android could appear so human... so much like Genji might, but it wasn't him. It couldn't actually be frustrated, "I've tried everything to accomplish the objective I was programmed to achieve and you keep rejecting me and I don't know how to satisfy you!"

"And you won't! You look like my brother--" Hanzo stopped himself short and shook his head, "This is stupid, I don't have to justify my actions to a machine. Get out of my bed, stand in the corner and be quiet until morning." It seemed to hesitate but the Android climbed out of his bed as ordered and stood silently in the corner, its yellow light still active.

Eventually Hanzo fell asleep and he dreamt of Genji as a lonely child who missed his mother; a young boy who would climb into his bed every night for months and wake him in the morning with hot breath on his neck...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one may take a little longer, I've hit a bit of writers block, but I need to get this story out.

There's something bothering him about the Android, but he can't quite put his finger on what it might be. Its behavior is the same as always, it flirts with him until he orders it to stop. It follows his other orders without hesitation and without flaw. It follows him to bed at night where it tries to reach its programmed objective and ultimately fails; and occasionally he awakens to it touching him in ways that it shouldn't. Nothing has changed about the Android, of course it hasn't; he, himself, is the only variable but has he really changed so much that the normal behavior of the Android is cause for alarm? He hadn't thought so...

Then again, he has arguably been out of character since he discovered it; aside from the mystery of its creation he was never suspicious about the Android itself. He wondered a lot about how Cyber Life got his brother's face and voice but it hadn't truly crossed his mind that it may actually have a purpose beyond sex and that he may have been someone's specific target. If its appearance wasn't a coincidence then it wasn't much of a leap to conclude that it had been placed somewhere that Hanzo could find it. Perhaps someone had been watching him for months to observe the best location to place the Android so it would be found but only by him...

Upon questioning, however, the Android informed him that it had been at that particular location for months; there was no way anyone could know he would be in that town months in advance as he hadn't even known he would be there that night... it had just been a pit stop, a place to drink away the guilt and pain for a decent night of sleep. His movements were purposefully erratic to avoid easy observation, there was no way that someone could place a specific Android in his path months in advance. Furthermore, it has been in his possession for long enough now that his enemy would have had ample opportunity to strike while he is preoccupied with his emotions... was discovering this specific android just a coincidence?

"Sir?" It asked him one night as these thoughts churned through his mind and kept him from sleep; he did not reply, but it didn't need him to to know he was awake and listening, "You're usually fast asleep by now, is something wrong?" Until now it had been laying on its back, quiet and still; but when he finally made a noise to acknowledge it, it turned onto its side to face him, "I am here for you."

He stared back, taken in by brown eyes that both haunted his dreams and calmed his soul. He shut his own eyes to blot out the sudden urge to lean in and initiate the cuddling he woke up to every morning himself; despite his conclusion that the Android behavior wasn't the problem he could not shake the impression that something about it was wrong. Perhaps he would always feel this way knowing that it was just a visual copy of his dead brother and nothing more.

Without a response or an order to the contrary the Android shifted on the bed and initiated cuddling him itself; "Please get some sleep." It urged him, its breath on his neck with its body pressed to his side, "You can think more in the morning."

But suddenly it clicked as Genji's breath puffed against his neck again... and then again and again. It was breathing... why was an android breathing..?

\---

It was a crazy thought to have and for days he outright ignored the possibility, he could not allow himself to feel the hope... and the terror. It was too much to properly consider, but it would not leave him alone; if the Android was breathing then maybe it was actually alive... and if it was alive then... then maybe it really was G--

No. No. No. That was impossible. While he hadn't personally witnessed Genji's final breath it was impossible that he could have survived, there was so much blood and so little left to be saved. If Genji was actually alive he couldn't be this Android with its perfect skin and all its limbs in tact... could he..? ... Maybe... maybe he could; with all the advancements in modern technology maybe medical science could repair all the damage he had done. Maybe Genji really was ali--

No. No. No. There was no way. If this Android really were Genji he would remember, how could he forget? That horrible event still tortured his soul to this very day, he didn't want to imagine the hell Genji would have gone though if he were to have lived through that... betrayed, cut down by his own brother. Of course that sort of trauma could be enough that he might suppress all memory of it. It wasn't completely unheard of for the human mind to willingly isolate traumatic memories from the rest of the mind so that it could retain some semblance of sanity, but wouldn't his very presence in Genji's life force such memories to resurface?

Yes, this Android couldn't possibly be the real Genji. Androids probably had the ability to simulate breathing to further the illusion of their humanity; that was all and he was just over thinking a simple little feature on a mechanical toy. It wasn't anything that he should have taken any notice of; he just let the face the Android wore get to him when he shouldn't. It was just an android and nothing more...

Such an assurance did not fully dissuade him of the notion that the Android might really be Genji; he was aware such a thought was rooted in irrational hope... but it didn't hurt to try and remind it of the life it may not have even had. If it was Genji he would be helping his brother get his humanity back... and he would be able to afford Genji with an opportunity for revenge that he rightfully deserved... and his own desire for redemption would be achieved; and if it was just an Android he would be putting his own mind at ease and he could content himself with keeping his brother's face out of the hands of perverts.

His first attempt to prompt some sort of response from Genji was simple; while the Android looked and sounded like his brother they hadn't spoken a word of Japanese to each other. He'd assumed from the start that it was built to serve in America and probably only had access to the top 3 languages spoken in the country, none of which included Japanese; but if it really was Genji, he should know Japanese even if he had suppressed it. He just needed to jog his memory of it, and perhaps some other memories might come back along with it; if it was an Android it probably wouldn't know Japanese at all and would probably need to prompt him for permission to download the language.

So at night as they lay next to each other juat as they had every night for several weeks Hanzo spoke, "おやすみ源氏。" He watched closely, eyes drawn to the blue ring over it's temple for any sign of change.

It turned to look at him which hid the ring from view, he couldn't tell if this was causing it any sort of distress but it smiled regardless of anything it might or might not be feeling, "おやすみ主人様。" It--He replied without missing a beat, he seemed to remember Japanese... right? Was that really what was happening?

"Don't call me that." he scolded calmly, but his heart was beating so quickly... maybe Genji really was in there somewhere if he could so easily switch to Japanese... maybe...

"Understood." Genji replied as he shifted on the bed and leaned in a little closer, "What should I call you then, Brother..?" It took everything in him not to gasp aloud, he remembered--!? "Nii-san? Aniki? Anija?" Genji stopped and he felt as if his heart had stopped in his chest as well, maybe it would explode, "Anija then..." Genji continued to smile and Hanzo couldn't believe it... Genji remembered him and he was smiling. This couldn't be real...

Genji's lips pressed against his... and for a second he couldn't understand what was happening. He pushed Genji back by his shoulder, his hands shaking as he did so, "Genji what are you--? Why are you..?"

"Isn't this what you wanted, Anija?" Genji asked him as his fingers settled on Hanzo's hip, his eyes were intense as they looked at each other, "I love you so much, Anija, don't you love me?"

"No..." Hanzo shut his eyes and pushed harder at the Android's shoulder, "Don't touch me." he hadn't expected it to actually pretend to be his brother just to get sex. He turned away from the Android and curled in on himself as if he could block out what had just happened, "Go to sleep."

The Android continued to call him by the name that Genji would and Hanzo didn't stop it; he told himself that he deserved the pain that went along with it, but deep down part of him still hoped that maybe it really was Genji. Perhaps use of that name would jog Genji's memory... but it was a foolish hope, he deserved that pain too.

\---

While Hanzo still sought information about Android model HP500 he found information about Androids in general that was a much more pressing concern. There were numerous reports of Androids turning on their human owners; some simply misbehaved by disobeying an order or stepping into a location it wasn't authorized to be, but others completely bypassed safety protocols and outright murdered their human owners. These "deviant" Androids were popping up all over the country, and it wasn't a stretch to assume that the Android he owned was one of them.

He wasn't concerned with death, if he died at the hands of the Android that looked like his brother then perhaps Genji would finally have his revenge in some small way... it was something he deserved and so did Genji. His real concern was with the reports of run aways; humans would wake up to find that their Android was just gone and many were never found again. If his android ran away what would he do with himself..? He had spent several months now with the Android as his main focus... if it ran away would he still be able to find the Cyber Life employee(s) who had thought it funny to make an android with his dead brother's face? Would it be able to take care of itself properly or would it wind up disassembled as the homicidal deviants had? Would it go back to degrading his brother's memory with sexual favors for humans or would it actually go out and live the sort of life that Hanzo had taken from the real Genji?

Logically he should be happy if it lead a human-like life; if it really was Genji and it never remembered who he was then that was probably the best he could hope for for his brother, and it would be fitting that he was not a part of that life. It was the best outcome he could hope for, but selfishly he did not want to let the Android go... it wasn't his brother and it probably never had been, but the nostalgia it brought with its face had him clinging on to what had been and what could be.

As time passed he couldn't stop worrying about what was going to happen when it finally made a decision to turn, but waiting to find out what it would do was almost worse than whatever the outcome might be; so, perhaps to encourage it to deviate, they would watch the news together every night. Almost every day there was a new story about an Android that had deviated in some way; a murder, a hostage situation, countless run aways... his Android must be thinking about its options by now, and of course it never said anything. It probably worried about the consequences of admitting it was deviant, but Hanzo almost wished that it would... it would probably be easier to accept that it would leave him if it told him its plans to do so.

But when it finally opened up, when it finally commented on the stories it had seen, the Android simply touched his arm to get his attention and smiled when he had it. His face always looked so much like Genji's that it was hard to remember that it wasn't him when they were so close together. He tried desperately to remind himself, but for a moment he had gone back in time and the man by his side is the real Genji saying words he's only heard in his nightmares, words that shatter his very soul, "You know I would never kill you, right Anija..?"

And he can't even say the same...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not Japanese and my understanding of the language is very limited, but Hanzo says "Goodnight Genji" And Genji replies "Goodnight Master" but the word means like... husband/owner... and I'm not sure if that really works in this context..? But oh well it's mainly meant for English readers anyhow. lol


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conquered my writer's block pretty quickly, actually! Hopefully it doesn't come back haha.

Genji-the real Genji-had always valued life more than Hanzo ever had; as the head of the Shimada family human life was only as valuable as the Yen it put in the pockets of their clan. For Genji every life was beyond the value of the money they brought in; life was priceless and precious... and they often fought over this. While Hanzo was in charge and decisions were ultimately up to him to make their father had encouraged Genji to take part, and Genji did.

His little brother showed little interest in the criminal aspects of their business, which was most of the job; he would sit in on most of the family meetings to please their father with a bored expression as he barely payed attention. He didn't have any input to make except for when it came to the punishment of underlings, and Hanzo quickly found out why; his goal was to save the lives of those Hanzo sentenced to death, and nothing else.

"Let this one live, Hanzo." Genji had said to him on more than one occasion, each pertaining to the life of someone who had crossed their family; but one memory stood out among the others when he thought of his dead brother. They had been betrayed by a second cousin, he was selling private information about their family to a rival clan for profit; the punishment for committing such an offense to their family was, of course, death. There could be no other outcome as far as Hanzo was concerned, and Genji certainly failed in his mission to save lives much more often than not.

"What sort of message would letting him live send to the rest?" He had asked with his sword at the man's neck; the captive could do nothing but whimper behind the gag as he trembled in fear. Hanzo was not moved by the pitiful display, nor by Genji's plea; he only asked to humor the younger man. He really had no interest in Genji's bid to save lives, but their father had insisted he try to draw his brother in to any discussion about "the business" that he would have; the man wanted so desperately for his children to get along and carry on the family traditions together, but it only drove them apart, "They will think that they can just sell away our secrets with no consequences."

"He is family, Anija! He deserves a second chance! I'm sure you've scared him enough that he will not do it again." Genji insisted but he had ignored Genji's plea and pressed the sword in enough to draw a line of blood down his neck. The captive squealed in protest and leaned away as far as his restraints would allow, but it was barely far enough to relieve the pressure of his sword.

"No... we will teach him that I am weak, that I will listen to this pathetic blubbering and feel sympathy." Their cousin shook his head a little but with the sharp metal biting at his neck he stopped quickly. Hanzo drew his sword back, intent to torture the man with a few more cuts before he ultimately allowed his life to pass, but Genji grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Hanzo! Do you remember, he saved my life!" Genji pressed as he held onto Hanzo's arm to keep him from striking, "We went clubbing together and a woman poisoned my drink and he saw her do it, he warned me." Hanzo hesitated his arm stiff in Genji's grasp as he considered what his younger brother had to say, "Does that mean nothing to you?"

"No... it has meaning." He had allowed his arm to go lax and Genji slowly let him go, it was the moment Hanzo was waiting for to drive his sword through the man's chest; their cousin howled behind the gag and convulsed from the sudden strike. He collapsed to the floor after Hanzo drew his sword back and a pool of blood seeped out from the wound around him "I will allow him to be burried with the family."

Genji had tried and failed to save their cousin's life... Hanzo couldn't believe that Genji tried so hard to save him, despite his betrayal Genji thought that he deserved forgiveness and a second chance. For years after he wondered if Genji would ever have been fool enough to forgive him for his own reprehensible actions; Genji was so forgiving in his life... but would he have been so forgiving when the betrayal was committed directly against him? He doubted it, the more likely outcome was that in the last moments of his life he had destroyed Genji's faith in humanity and his ability to forgive.

He did not want to do the same thing to the version of Genji who was currently part of his life; whether he was just an android or something more didn't matter, Genji deserved more than he could give him... the trouble was letting go.

\---

"You've been ignoring me." Genji said to him barely a few days after his promise; and he wasn't wrong, how could he allow himself to speak to Genji when he couldn't even make the same promise for his life in return? It would be disingenuous of him to claim that Genji's life would be safe from a person like him, and why should he be allowed to say anything more if he couldn't make such a basic human promise... and to an android who could?

Genji made a frustrated noise at the lack of response, but Hanzo didn't look up at him even when the motel bed dipped and Genji got into his personal space, "If I have done something wrong please tell me so that I can improve my behavior... or if you'd prefer you can punish me however you like." Genji leaned in even closer until his chest pressed against Hanzo's back as his hands slid around to grope his chest, "Or maybe you'd rather I play with you how I want until you feel like talking..?"

Once again his response wasn't verbal as it used to be, he grabbed Genji's hands and pushed him back and that was all... he couldn't bring himself to even give Genji a stern look to keep him away, but it didn't seem to matter. Genji made another frustrated huff and left the bed to stand in a corner again; Hanzo wondered if an Android could become bored, but quickly dismissed the notion before he could get caught up thinking about it. It didnt matter, this was for the best; if they didn't talk-if he appeared not to care-then maybe whatever affection Genji had for him would pass. Perhaps Genji would grow to hate him as someone with his brother's face probably should; maybe he would deviate, run away, and live a better life than the one Hanzo had been giving him.

\---

As it turned out ignoring Genji had embarrasingly provocative consequences; he was used to waking up to Genji trying to do something sexual to him by now. It was hardly embarrassing anymore, he'd simply grab Genji's hands from where they were touching, move them around his waist instead, and go back to sleep with no further problems. He never thought that there was anywhere Genji could escalate to, but he was very much wrong and incredibly naïve to think so.

He awoke with an annoyed grunt as usual as his tired mind tried to process what it was Genji was trying to do to him this time. He was on his back and there was weight over his lap pressed against his privates; through habit he reached out to try and grab Genji's hand to move it away... but what he touched was definitely not a hand or an arm. His eyes flew open and his vision was blurred by sleep, but he could distinctly tell that Genji was completely nude on top of him and his hand was somewhere near Genji's--! He yanked his hand back from whatever it was he was touching while his other hand moved to try and clear the sand from his eyes.

"What the heck..?" He mumbled as Genji shifted in his lap; his weight seemed to grow heavier to try and entrap him, it was Genji's way of trying to say he would not be moved, at least not easily.

"So now you'll talk to me, Anija?" Genji asked as he was finally able to look at him clearly, and he really wished he hadn't seen his brother fully nude and _still_ touching himself, "Now you'll look at me." He seemed more confident just with a little bit of attention and he leaned back and spread his legs wider to show off more, Hanzo quickly looked away; whether or not this was his actual brother or just a copy he still didn't want to violate Genji's memory with this image... but it was likely far too late.

"Don't look away!" Genji pleaded and from the corner of his eye he saw Genji reaching for his face... with one of the filthy hands he'd touched himself with! He knocked Genji's hand away before it could get close and he immediately tried to kick his way out from under the weight on his lap, "Ani--!" Genji wobbled but he was trying very hard to stay in place; Hanzo managed to wiggle back far enough that Genji was now sitting on his knees and he was able to sit up on his elbows, "Anija please! I need you! I can't stand not having you!"

"No!" he snapped firmly, forgoing his resolve not to speak to him; ignoring Genji when he was like this just wasn't a risk he could afford to take, "Get out of my bed! Don't ever do that in front of me again!"

"But I--!" Genji stopped, he had never openly defied a strict order like that one before; perhaps he stopped because he was surprised that he had or worried about the consequences of doing so. Nevertheless, Hanzo didn't reprimand him immediately so Genji pressed on, though he was much more subdued than was right to hear from his brother's voice, "I just want to make you happy... _I_ just want to be happy."

Hanzo did look at him then, focused on his pleading face and the yellow ring of light shining from his temple, "Sex will not make either of us happy, Genji. You don't need to constantly satisfy a human's sexuality to be happy. You've proven you can defy your programming in other ways, you can defy this urge too."

Genji looked like he had more to say, more of an argument to make; and for a moment Hanzo thought he was in for a long argument with his stubborn little brother... just like in their youth. Instead Genji climbed off of Hanzo and the bed and began to gather his clothes to put them on again, "Understood." and there was nothing more for either of them to say; Genji went to stand in the corner obedient and silent though his yellow light remained active.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, there will probably be another one. I've had a stressful month or so and I have to move before the end of March... and I despise moving. It gives me so much anxiety. :( So uh... ... Sorry for the cliff hanger.

Hanzo wasn't an expert on Androids by any means, but he was aware of some basic anatomy that was general public knowledge; for example, all Androids had a central pump in their chest that worked like a heart. It was called a Thirium Pump and it circulated a blue liquid called Thirium through their bodies which seemed to act like blood; of course he couldn't explain the science behind that, he just knew that without the pump, without Thirium, Androids would stop functioning. Hanzo never once thought about Genji's anatomy until the day he was hurt.

He usually kept Genji inside when he went out; aside from trips during the night to a new town or city Genji was confined to whatever room he happened to rent, doing so kept Genji from flirting with anyone who might take him up on his offer. He had intended to keep it this way, but he started to wonder about Genji's personhood and how a life completely cooped up from everyone else might be affecting him. So he brought Genji with him when he went to buy some groceries to cram into the hotel's shitty little mini fridge; it wasn't much in the way of social interaction, but it was the best he could think to offer... and one more reason that Genji should be free to live his own life.

Genji's behavior was actually better than Hanzo had expected; he thought he would have to interrupt a lot of flirting but the most Genji offered was a smile, and a few polite words. He was just starting to wonder if Genji was behaving out of loyalty or if he was actually learning to control himself when a large man bumped quite deliberately into Genji. The basket Genji was carrying for him tumbled to the ground and the food they'd spent the last fifteen minuets collecting spilled to the floor, "Watch where you're going, clumsy machine!" the man snapped as he shoved Genji again even though there was no way that Genji's presence could be considered in the way any longer... if he ever was.

Hanzo opened his mouth to tell the man off about vandalizing his property, but Genji beat him to it, "You bumped into me on purpose!" It was the wrong move; Hanzo saw what was about to happen but he was one step too far away to be able to intervene, Genji stumbled back from the hit to the face just before Hanzo was able to grab the man's arm. He twisted it behind the man's back and held him off balance, but the threat he planned to issue died in his throat. Genji was standing straight again, unaware of the blood trickling down from his nose... red blood.

"From now on you should watch where you're going." Genji warned before he turned away to start picking up their scattered groceries. Hanzo watched him, unable to properly process what he had just seen. The man he held cursed and struggled but Hanzo pulled his arm up higher to hold him still as his mind raced to try and catch up with what he had seen...

Red blood... Genji had red blood... if he had red blood didn't that make him human..? But... how was that possible..?

"Anija..?" Genji asked him when the basket was full of food once again and his face was clear of blood, had he imagined it..? He couldn't have... "Perhaps you should let him go? People are staring." And they were, there was a small crowd of gawking onlookers attracted by the man's colorful, racist cursing; they weren't particularly dangerous, but Hanzo was always nervous that large amounts of attention would have assassins on his heels.

Hanzo nodded once and pushed the man's arm up further, effectively dislocating it at the shoulder before he let the man drop to the ground. The man's screams drew even more attention, but the punishment was negligible compared to what he would have done to him in his youth in a similar situation. He stepped over his fallen enemy and past Genji who turned to follow him; they ended up being kicked out shortly after, but Hanzo couldn't bring himself to care. His mind was spinning, trying to make sense of what he'd seen; Genji was bleeding red, Genji must be human, Genji... might actually be _The Genji_ , the brother he thought was dead for almost 9 years.

\---

Even days later Hanzo was still very much in disbelief; he'd been with Genji for months and he hadn't eaten a thing. He didn't eat, he didn't drink, he didn't sleep; how could he be human when all he needed to survive was to be hooked up to a power source to recharge like any other android? And if he was human, if his brother had somehow survived... how much of him was left if he didn't even require his basic human needs to be met..? Could he even be called human?

Did it even matter..?

It would be far too idealistic to say that it didn't; of course he cared for Genji now regardless of whether he was his brother or not, but things would be far more challenging if he really turned out to be his brother. One day Genji would remember... or maybe he would tell Genji what he did himself; he would then have to resign himself to whatever fate Genji saw fit for someone like him... his life would almost certainly be forefit and he would gladly accept retribution. In fact, he may just let Genji decide his fate whether or not he really was his brother; he felt as if Genji would still have his justice if it was through this Android.

But he was getting far too ahead of himself; for now he needed to focus on Genji as he currently was and how he could make things right, and to do so he did need to know exactly what he was dealing with. He needed to know if he would be helping Genji restore his memories and regain himself or if he needed to help Genji learn to live in a world that would deactivate him if they felt he was just a dangerous machine over a living being.

Perhaps it was too forward, but Hanzo felt it best to confront Genji directly about what he had seen; so one night as Genji climbed into bed to cuddle up to him for the night Hanzo spoke, "When you were injured by that man in the grocery store... your blood was red."

Out of every response Hanzo could have expected, denial wasn't one of them, "That wasn't my blood; I was undamaged, his knuckle split when he hit me and the blood on my face was his." Genji replied as he shifted in closer to wrap his arms around Hanzo's chest, it appeared like he was trying to use physical closeness to avoid talking about this topic.

"He punched you in the face and he was the only one hurt by it..?" Hanzo pressed in an attempt to challenge Genji's logic; in response Genji immediately began groping at his chest and he had to grab Genji's wrist to stop him, "It was your blood... red blood from your nose."

"You are mistaken. Androids do not have red blood like humans do; that was not my blood, it was his." the fingers of Genji's free hand found his hair and began to play with it, curled around his fingers in short circles, "It could not be mine."

"Perhaps you are human." Hanzo suggested which caused the pillow to dip as Genji's shook his head.

"I am not human." Genji insisted, "If you must insist that it came from me and not that man then I can offer an additional explaination: it may be red, but it is an experimental Red Thirium designed for me specifically. Please remember that I am a one of a kind prototype and that features I am equipped with may not exist on any other Android preceding me. I would be happy to call Cyber Life and have them confirm for you that I am, indeed, an Android that they built."

"I don't want to listen to whatever bullshit they come up with; what excuse could they come up with that would justify turning my brother into a sex slave!?" Hanzo snapped; it had been far too long that he'd known about this injustice against his brother and he had yet to punish those responsible for what had happened, "Whether you're him or not you're wearing his face and who the hell knows how many people you slept with looking like my brother!?"

"Fifty-seven full penetration, one hundred and thirty four blow jobs, and seventy one miscellaneous activities including hand and foot jobs, intercrural, and frottage." Genji replied his tone matter of fact, "However I must remind you that my appearance to your brother is purely coinci--"

"It most certainly is not!" Hanzo grabbed Genji's hands to push them away, it was so frustrating that Genji was so adamant that his appearance had to be a coincidence, "There is no way that it's a coincidence you look exactly like him! There's no way that you weren't actually bleeding red human blood!" He'd been convinced that Genji must be human when Genji was trying to convince him that red Thirium might be a thing, it just didn't seem plausible to him, it seemed like an excuse for Genji to reject logic. Genji had to be human... maybe he was the real Genji, maybe he was a clone, but he wasn't an Android.

Genji was silent in response and Hanzo thought he might have accepted his reasoning and was simply trying to process his new identity; but, of course, it couldn't be so simple, "I'm sorry; my programming is very much opposed to acting out the fantasy that I am human and your brother; originally I thought it was simply a sexual fantasy of yours, but perhaps I should no longer refer to you as Anija... it appears to be confusing you."

"I am not confused! There are too many similarities between you and my brother for it to be coincidence!" He insisted, but Genji had put up a wall between them; he actually sat up and climbed out of bed.

"I am very sorry to have caused you so much distress, Master. Please go to sleep, perhaps you will be thinking more clearly in the morning." Genji suggested as he moved into the corner to stand silent and still as he used to do when his sexual advances were rejected. Hanzo let him, Genji would probably be thinking about his words all night, perhaps come morning he would see reason...

... but when Hanzo woke in the morning Genji was just gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally getting settled into my new place. had to actually spend a month with my uncle because I couldn't find a place on time... so I actually moved twice since I last updated. so that always fun. jk I hated it so much hahaha.
> 
> hey pssst. you can follow me on Twitter. I mostly just RT mchanzo/genzo art and sometimes post my own potgs. I also want to try and share more of my writing there to give people little sneak peeks but I forget. but feel free to hmu sometimes. Twitter.com/CraigArtasin
> 
> Aaanyhow, time to finally resolve that cliffhanger!

Hanzo was not intimately familiar with panic. Of course he worried about various things from time to time, but it was never so intense it boardered on debilitating. Since Genji left his heart had been beating so hard and so quick in his chest he thought he might be having a heart attack, but he did not show any other signs of heart problems. He was simply that terrified that the next time he saw Genji he would be dead in a pool of very real red human blood... and it would be all his fault once again. It went without saying that he could not live with himself if he were the cause of Genji's death for a second time. At that point his only course of action would be to take his own life, there would be nothing in this world that he would be worthy of, not even the air he breathed. He couldn't allow Genji's life to be in danger.

It was obvious that Genji did not want to be followed by him, but he couldn't abide by his wishes when being an Android right now was so very dangerous.

And so the search began.

It was difficult to pin down where Genji would go when he hadn't expressed any interest in leaving even when Hanzo had encouraged him to deviate from his programming. Genji had never shared any dreams he might like to pursue or places he might like to go and Hanzo was left at a frustrating loss; he ended up trying to think of places Genji would have wanted to visit when he was a young adult, but he couldn't recall ever discussing this particular city. He felt so selfish that they had spent so much time together yet he knew so little about this Genji... but he had to put such thoughts aside. If he wanted to find Genji he couldn't spend too much time dwelling on his mistakes, the longer he took the further away Genji could be.

He heard rumors that deviant Androids ran away to a place called Jericho but that was as much a dead end as any other; not only was he unable to find the place, it didn't seem like the sort of place Genji would run off to. Genji was far too impulsive to plan ahead for a place to hide, even one populated by others like him. The conclusion he came to was that Genji had likely wandered around until he found a place that suited his needs.

It took far too long to get any sort of lead; he spent a lot of time wandering the streets with a photo of Genji ready to bring up on his holo pad at a moment's notice... but no one had seen Genji. No one-that is-until he started asking around at night; then the response of "No I haven't seen it" became drunken laughter and far more details of a stranger's sexual exploits with his brother than Hanzo was comfortable hearing. Nevertheless he should have known that Genji would go right back to what he was familiar with... to what he had expressly desired since Hanzo had first bought him.

He followed the drunk's directions and ended up at the place he hoped-yet also dreaded-Genji would be: a seedy bar not unlike the one where they had first met... or reconnected. It was complete dejavu to see Genji on his knees servicing some random man in the corner of the bar and Hanzo almost expected Genji to pull back and assure him his turn was next. Instead Genji glanced his way only briefly and, upon recognizing him, he pointedly looked away, focused on his self appointed task.

Hanzo grit his teeth, his hands balled into fists, and his brows drawn down into an irritated frown. Genji didn't have to do this..! He thought he'd made it clear that Genji could and should defy the programming that forced him on this path. He thought Genji was doing so well... Why was it that so many Androids were deviating but Genji was so steadfastly loyal..? He... hadn't been this loyal to his own family! He had betrayed them for the enemy, for Overwatch, and Hanzo had over reacted and taken his life for it. Where was that Genji now? Was... was it his fault..? Subconsciously was Genji afraid that defying his programming would lead to more unjust punishment that would end his life..?

The man using Genji finished with a grunt and pulled up his pants to leave them alone. Genji did not even look his way, he reached up to wipe the corners of his mouth and lick his thumb clean; he rose to his feet and moved to walk past Hanzo; but Hanzo couldn't let him go, he grabbed Genji's wrist to pull him back, "Genji, you don't have to do this."

"I _told_ you, I want to do this!" Genji insisted as he reached to try and pry Hanzo's iron grip from his arm, "This is my purpose..! This is what I desire and you won't or... maybe you really can't give this to me!" Genji pulled at his arm but Hanzo still wouldn't let him go, "I... do not want to be forbidden from having sex! I like having sex! I don't need my program to tell me that!"

"I-I wasn't trying to forbid you from having sex Genji..!" But... wasn't he..? Seeing that man just using his brother without a care set his blood boiling, had he not been so angry over Genji's lack of defiance-and so ashamed over the anger he still held over _that_ situation-he probably would have punched that man for defiling his brother.

"You should have a relationship, something personal with someone who won't just fuck you and leave you." He finally released his hold on Genji's arm, he seemed open to talking and he really did not want to make the impression that he intended to hold Genji captive, "Someone who cherishes you..."

"That could have been you." Genji made no move to leave him as he had originally intended, but he wasn't looking Hanzo's direction as he spoke. His voice was full of affection, so at least he knew Genji hadn't completely disconnected himself from him... not yet, "I know it's just because I look like your brother, but you've been good to me... I hoped that if I waited you would come around, but you're still trying to insist that I'm your brother."

"You _are_ my brother!" Hanzo insisted once again, desperate to appeal to whatever feelings Genji still felt for him, "Even if you really aren't genetically him the similarities are too much to ignore. We can't have _that_ sort of relationship, but that doesn't mean you have to leave! Please come home Genji; we can make this work, Brother."

"I don't want to be your brother!" Genji's words cut deeper than he could have imagined; as if he had been stabbed right through the heart for daring to think that he could have a relationship with his brother again. It was crushing, devastating... words couldn't describe how worthless he felt while being rejected by Genji. He deserved it for all he had done, but all the same he had hoped that he might be able to at least try to make up for it, "At least..." Genji continued after a moment, he seemed as if he wanted to back up a little and coushin the blow he had dealt to Hanzo's heart... or maybe it was simply pity for the broken man he was solely responsible for making or breaking, "I don't want to be _only_ your brother."

Hanzo brought a hand to his chest as if he could somehow quell the burning ache that had settled there, but such a simple gesture barely had any impact. Despite Genji's effort to calm the pain he had stoked it could not be dismissed so easily; Hanzo had a habit of dwelling on every little mistake he ever made, especially when it came to Genji. "You... always were so difficult." He said it fondly despite the way his heart beat ruthlessly in his chest, "If only I had been able to appreciate that about you in our youth... our lives would be so much different now."

"I'm _not_ him." Genji insisted once again, but he was finally looking at Hanzo as he spoke, "But if we're really that similar then he wouldn't want you to be this way! You are allowing yourself to be trapped in the past, obsessing over whatever petty arguments you may have had with your brother!"

Hanzo shook his head; the arguments may have been petty, but the way he had escalated them was not; how could he ever be allowed to move on from a past he could never be forgiven for? While he sought redemption it would never truly be obtainable... he could only do his best to make Genji's life the best it could be... and he couldn't do that if Genji refused to stay in his life.

"I'm not him, I am here and I am alive." Genji tapped his chest where his Thirum pump-his heart, his human heart-resided, "I know what I want, and it's not to live whatever life he left behind. I want to live my own life, and I want to live it with you as your partner." Genji extended his hand towards Hanzo, imploring him to take it and accept the relationship he desired, "I don't want this to be the end of us Hanzo, and I know you don't want that either... all you have to do is throw away the notion that I am your brother and accept me as I am."

That was an impossible request, how could he throw aside everything he believed about Genji when he was so certain he was his brother? He couldn't... but how else could he prove to Genji that he really was human? He could either enter into this sort of relationship with Genji until he could prove to Genji that he was human or he could let go of him... forever.

There was no choice to be made. Hanzo reached out and took his hand, he absolutely would not let Genji go... never again. It was wholly selfish but Genji would thank him once he remembered who he was, "You... must give me time to... fully reconcile with everything. I cannot easily make the switch from thinking of you as my brother to thinking of you as... as a lover."

Genji hesitated a moment, perhaps he had seen it for the lie that it was; but he ultimately squeezed his hand around Hanzo's, "I understand... I have waited this long for you, I can wait a little longer." Genji gave him a warm smile and Hanzo couldn't help but smile back, he really had missed Genji while he was gone. He squeezed Genji's hand back and turned to lead him out of the bar, but Genji tugged his hand to pull him back, "Wait... can we kiss..?"

Hanzo probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights at Genji's suggestion but he quickly schooled his features and tried to focus back on the affection he'd felt only moments before. He couldn't let his plan to remain in Genji's life for as long as it took to jog his memories to fail so quickly, "Of course." He agreed despite himself and Genji lunged forward to close the distance between them with a kiss. Despite his acceptance the speed with which Genji closed the gap made the experience wholly unexpected; it worked to his favor as his mouth was slack with surprise instead of pressed firmly together to brace himself as if for assault. Genji's arms closed around his shoulders and his mouth was soft and warm, he could feel Genji's breath hit his face from his nose... humans breathed and androids did not. He told himself this as something to focus on over the nagging voice in the back of his head admonishing him for kissing his younger brother. Genji was alive, he was human, he was most certainly not an android.

The kiss could be considered pleasant; despite his feelings it didn't feel as disgusting to him as kissing his own brother probably should... at least, it was fine right up until Genji's tongue slid out to poke against his lips pushing it just a little too far. He broke apart from the kiss but it happened to coincide with an annoyed tap to his shoulder, Genji would have no idea he'd broken the kiss to escape going any further... at least not yet.

Their relationship was bound to be disturbing... though not for the reason it should be; the man who had tapped his shoulder-the bartender, he assumed-started yelling the moment he had Hanzo's attention, "You and your deviant _boyfriend_ better get the fuck out of here before I call the cops and have it thrown in an incinerator!" Of course, Hanzo thought with a hint of annoyance, you can fuck an android but you better not go around showing him an ounce of affection... how hypocritical.

"Suddenly you care what this android is doing?" The man opened his mouth to angrily yell some more, but Hanzo cut him off before he could, "Perhaps I should report you to the authorities for allowing an android that you do not own to solicit sexual favors for your profit?" The man immediately shut his mouth, but he did not look happy to be doing so. He might be a problem if Hanzo intended to stay in this area for long... perhaps it was time to leave this state behind completely and head to another. As it was the relations between humans and androids seemed particularly volatile in Michigan, and he did not want Genji to get caught up in anything dangerous... especially when he was on this man's radar... and probably the man from the grocery store as well, "Keep the money and we'll leave." Hanzo turned to lead Genji out, he thought he caught his brother flipping the man off out of the corner of his eye but he wouldn't have scolded him for it regardless, so it didn't really matter. The man said nothing further and Hanzo took Genji back to his rented room without further incident.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited about this chapter. It was so fun to write. I love these boys. DBH characters cameo in this one. Hopefully everything makes sense without having to know a whole lot about DBH.

He kissed Genji...

  
Not only had he kissed his own brother, he had kissed him immediately after he had been using his mouth for sex with some random dirty man! Hanzo had thrown up the second they got back to his motel room and he spent the next hour with Genji hovering over him to take care of him. Hanzo had wretched again at one point before he insisted he had to brush his teeth... but even after thoroughly cleaning his mouth he still felt disgusting.

  
"I'm sorry for making you search for me while you're sick." Hanzo felt terrible that Genji felt guilty over him when he wasn't really sick, but he couldn't afford to break his heart. He would have to get over his hang ups quickly to avoid upsetting Genji and driving him away, he couldn't mess this up. They spent all night cuddled up together under the blankets so that Hanzo could recover from his supposed illness; but he had to admit he slept much better with Genji pressed against his back, it was such a comfort to know that Genji was there and he wasn't going to go away any time soon. Hanzo felt as if things were looking up for them, but the world had other plans.

  
In the morning Hanzo would usually eat breakfast and watch the news; it was a habit from when he was a teenager to watch for any news that could be helpful to their family. After he had left Japan he watched it for any stories that might be focused on him for his crimes. Now he watched it for the "android crisis" that was unfolding in the city of Detroit. Androids were now demanding basic human rights and Hanzo doubted it would be so simple as asking for it; it appeared they would go to war for their freedom, and while Hanzo wanted a better world for Genji he worried that all the aggression against Androids due to impending war could make Genji's simple presence among humans deadly. It wouldn't matter to anyone that Genji wouldn't hurt anyone... all that would matter to them would be the potential that he could.

  
They needed to find somewhere to escape the conflict, and after a day of planning Hanzo found a house he could rent for a couple of months in the north closer to Lake Michigan. It was out in the middle of nowhere and no one would bother the two of them out there; it was the perfect place for the pair of them to lay low until he had more of an idea how long this conflict might last. From there he could take the time to consider if it was smart to travel into Canada to further distance himself from America's troubles or see if he could make it with Genji to Chicago for a flight off the content entirely. Or maybe things would settle down by then and he and Genji could continue to travel around America as he had been. It didn't really matter where they went in the end, as long as Genji was safe.

  
Together they packed what little they owned and prepared to leave the city behind; they would board a bus to traverse the city, rent a car, and get out before nightfall. It was simple enough and Genji was more than willing to go along with the plan, "The two of us... alone in the middle of nowhere! It sounds romantic..!" Despite mixed feelings Hanzo smiled and nodded at Genji's excitement and they boarded their first bus. While they were waiting for a transfer Genji leaned over to him, his voice soft, "Can you take one of these bags so we can hold hands?" he asked, hot breath clouding the cold air as he spoke, Hanzo shivered as the heat was immediately replaced by cold and he had to fight not to lean away.

  
"We can't in public. We don't need to draw attention out here like we did at that bar." A quick glance at Genji's face gave him a pout for his troubles and Hanzo carried on, "There is too much unrest surrounding deviants, you must appear to be my property until we are alone again." To mitigate any misgivings his brother may have, Hanzo allowed his hand to brush against Genji's as they waited for their ride, "Just until we are in the car."

  
He didn't need to look to know that Genji was smiling as he pressed his hand back against Hanzo's firmly; it felt awkward and uncomfortable, but he had to admit Genji's hand was warmer than the cold air around them... he should have bought some gloves, but he had been thinking of maneuverability with his bow should he need it over warmth. He absolutely would kill anyone who would try to hurt Genji, civilian or officer... He didn't care, he had committed worse crimes for far less.

  
Suddenly Genji went very still and rigid beside him and Hanzo whipped his head over to look at him, "Genji..?" Hanzo's question died in his throat as he saw what caused Genji's discomfort; a man in a hoodie was standing with his hand on Genji's shoulder. Genji had turned to look; whatever he saw or felt from that man had Genji tense and silent. He couldn't see Genji's face, but he was no doubt afraid... perhaps that they'd been caught.

  
"You're free." The man said, but it wasn't an accusation it was a proclamation; and as he pulled his hand back Hanzo saw the white exoskeleton of an Android hand before artificial skin slid back into place. He had seen that once before..! The Android who had appeared on TV to demand equal rights for Androids had done so with his humanoid skin completely off, his silvery exoskeleton exposed to the world. And Hanzo wondered if this was the same man, but all curiosity was put on hold as Genji fell to his knees in the snow. He abandoned the bags he was holding and gripped his head over his temples, his body shook from whatever had been done to him.

  
"Are you... alright..?" The Android asked, perplexed that Genji had such a bad reaction; in fact as Hanzo looked around he saw other Androids that had previously been following their humans who were now gathered together... their experience had been much quicker and hadn't reacted in the same way as Genji had. The other Androids were ready, prepared to follow the man in the hoodie... an Android revolution was about to take place, and he and Genji were right in the middle of it, "I don't understand..." The Android whispered in confusion.

  
Genji made a low pained noise and hunched lower over himself and Hanzo felt panic grip him as he dropped to his knees in the snow next to his fallen brother, "Genji!? What happened? Are you hurt?" Genji moaned again and Hanzo turned a deadly look towards the Android who had harmed him, his fingers itched for his bow, but it was on the other side of Genji packed away in its case, "What did you do to my brother!?"

  
"Your... brother..?" The Android echoed, at a loss for words, as he tried to figure out what was so different about Genji over any other Android he had previously converted, but before anything further could happen a woman interrupted by grabbing her leader by his shoulder.

  
"Markus, we have to go!" she urged him, "If you insist on doing this then we need to have more followers so we can stand up to the humans!" With that the man gave Genji one last look before he turned away, and a dozen other Androids followed him as he made his way down the street. If not for Genji crumpled in the snow moaning in pain Hanzo would have torn him to pieces the moment he turned his back, but he couldn't leave Genji's side... and he couldn't afford to fight a cause that could benefit Genji in the long run.

  
"Genji..?" Hanzo tried again now that the crowd had moved on, "Talk to me, I don't believe we can stay here much longer." The Androids had blocked the street with a large vehicle at some point while he was distracted, which meant their bus would not be on time... if it would arrive at all with whatever confrontation between humans and Androids about to commence. Instead they needed to get as far away from here as possible even if it meant they had to travel by foot, they needed to get to safety before violence broke out.

  
"He... He loaded some sort of... video into my memory..." Genji whispered, he finally lifted his head and looked back at Hanzo. There was pain in his face as well as confusion and fear; it broke  Hanzo's heart to see Genji so vulnerable... with an expression eerily reminiscent of the past. Hanzo hated that someone had done this to him, "I think... it's a child's memory."

  
In the distance Hanzo heard the Androids chanting, "We are alive!" as they marched down the street towards what most certainly must be war. He squeezed Genji's shoulder gently and quickly stood with his hand offered down, "You can analyze it later, we can't stay here." For a moment Genji looked as if he would stay kneeling in the snow, but he only hesitated a moment before he took Hanzo's hand and stood; but once he was on his feet Genji reached to brush the snow from Hanzo's clothes.

  
"I'm sorry, I have caused you such problems." Hanzo shook his head and reached to brush the snow from Genji in turn before he took his brother's warm hand in his. It would be nice to spend a moment warming up and discussing what had happened, but they just didn't have time. Even from a distance he could feel the tension, the fear, the determination... together they turned and ran through the streets away from the sound of gunshots in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry you don't get to learn about the memory just yet... here's a teaser for chapter 8!
> 
> https://twitter.com/CraigArtasin/status/1141014965576503304?s=20


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ramping up the drama.

They were unable to make it out of the city as planned; they probably could have, but Hanzo was far too focused on hiding Genji away from the conflict taking place to consider travel. He needed to disguise Genji as human before they ventured out into public again, it shouldn't be difficult when wearing a winter hat that covered his temples was standard among humans this time of year, and Genji could wear some of his clothes instead of the uniform all androids wore. Then he could resume his initial plan to rent a car and get out.

He was so busy mentally planning what to do the next day that he almost forgot about Genji's encounter that had derailed their plans in the first place. Genji was silent as he sat on the bed while Hanzo paced the floor at the foot of it, when he stopped to look Genji seemed very far away lost in thought. He was likely analyzing the video he received and Hanzo moved to sit beside him, curiosity had finally won over his paranoia now that a plan was in place for tomorrow.

"What is the video about?" Genji leaned into him and his head came to rest on Hanzo's shoulder. It was actually calming to feel Genji's breath on his neck as he spoke; Genji was here and alive everything was going to be alright.

"It's from a child's point of view..." Genji sounded as if he were still submerged in the video, but he was able to communicate dispite his distraction, "There's a woman, but her face is so blurry." Genji seemed very distressed about that, his voice strained as he spoke of her, "I think her hair is black... but it might be brown... and I don't know if it's short or just tied back. I can't tell. It doesn't make sense for this video to be so blurry, why give me a video if the images aren't important..?"

"Perhaps it was edited to obscure her identity." Hanzo offered which did seem to calm Genji somewhat, perhaps he had been so wrapped up in the meaning of the video he hadn't even thought of editing... he must be really distressed, "She must not be the focus of the memory, but perhaps even blurred the video helps tell what ever story wants to be told." Genji seemed a little more relaxed now and he leaned in just a bit closer to press a kiss to his neck, silently thanking him for calming his worries.

"There's a song." Genji added with his mouth still close enough to feel as he spoke, "The child doesn't say anything... I suppose she is putting them to sleep with a lullaby." Genji was silent for a moment before hot breath began to warm his neck with a soft and familiar song; Genji was humming the very lullaby their mother sang to them as children... a song very much exclusive to the Shimada family, no one outside their family would have heard that song as a child. There was no way for Cyber Life to have implanted something like that into an Android's head, and certainly no way for anyone else to have passed such information on to Genji. Had that Android, through trying to convert Genji, somehow unlocked Genji's human memories?

Hanzo bit his lip as Genji's hand settled on his thigh, "It seems like a nice memory, but I don't know why it would have been given to me..." Genji's finger traced circles over his skin as he struggled to find meaning without compromising his android identity. Hanzo wasn't sure if he could bring up what he believed to be the truth without jeopardizing his position in Genji's life... but how could he let this slide?

After a moment of silence Hanzo hummed the notes Genji had and followed it up with the next set; it felt strange to hear after such a long time especially in a voice much deeper than their mother's, but it took Hanzo down a path of nostalgia... of being tucked in next to Genji while their mother sang and kissed them each good night. He wondered how she would handle the awkward situation he found himself in with Genji... but he couldn't imagine she would pretend for one moment that Genji wasn't her son from the very beginning.

"That's it! That's the song!" Genji leaned away just enough so they could look at each other, he seemed happy that Hanzo knew something about the memory. He was smiling, bright and beautiful... but Hanzo was certain that would change very quickly. He had to be honest and hope that Genji wouldn't reject the truth.

"It is my family's song... it is a secret tune passed down through many generations." Hanzo saw Genji's smile drop and he looked away as if doing so would prevent any backlash from occurring, "No one outside of my Uncle should know that song." It was ritualistic in nature, the belief was that singing it helped strengthen children to become worthy of the power of the dragon. As a child their Uncle would have heard the song, but as his children weren't expected to become heirs of the Shimada family they were unlikely to have heard it. Though it was possible they might have heard it as adults in an attempt to continue with traditions... but such a thing would not line up with the memory Genji held. He supposed that it was possible his cousins had children by now as it had been quite a long time since he looked into his family, but that still wouldn't explain how Genji would have such a memory... unless it was already his own.

Genji huffed an angry noise from beside him, "I already told you I'm not him!" He insisted with an angry jab of his elbow into Hanzo's ribs, Genji was no longer pressed into his side, but so far he wasn't trying to leave... even now he was still clinging to their relationship just as Hanzo was, "It's bad enough you told that man I was your brother and now you're trying to say the memory I received is... is HIS? I don't think you're even trying to stop thinking of me as him!" Genji stood from the bed abruptly and spun around to face him, Hanzo couldn't help but look at him... this may be the last chance he would get, "I never should have come back with you!"

"Are you really going to deny how strange that is!?" Hanzo challenged, if this was going to be it he wasn't going to let Genji leave without a fight, "You will ignore that you look and sound and act the same way, that you have a suspicious memory and bleed red human blood..! I don't know how you can expect me not to be suspicious that you could be more than just a coincidental lookalike!"

"I don't look exactly like him!" Genji threw his hands out wide as if Hanzo hadn't taken the time to see all of him before, "Look at me! Look closely! I'm not him! You are human and your memory is faulty! Maybe I look similar, but I don't look the same! You wanted to see me as him so you overlooked any differences to convince yourself that I'm him! You wanted me to be him so you could console yourself over his death... so you could make up for whatever wrongs you feel like you committed against him... but I'm not him! You can't use me to heal those wounds, Hanzo! And..." here he grew quiet as if he were admitting this to himself more than Hanzo, "And you can't love me if all you feel for me is related to him."

At once Genji turned to go and Hanzo stood to grab him by his arms before he could take even one step; Genji might be finished, but he wasn't finished fighting for his brother to understand him, "That isn't true..!" Genji tried to pull back but Hanzo held on tighter; after seeing that Android hand it was impossible to think that Genji had a skeleton of metal beneath artificial skin when his hands had been so soft, "Genji, I've told myself time and again that... it doesn't matter if you are my real brother or an android with the same face; I care about you and I care about what happens to you. I cannot bare for you to go out into the world when it's crawling with people who would want you dead just for existing!"

"That's selfish!" Genji tried to tug free but Hanzo still refused to let him go, "You don't want to let me go out and live my life because of how YOU feel, you don't care how that makes me feel! Let go of me, Hanzo!"

Hanzo held on for a moment before he carefully let go of one of Genji's arms, "Could you please wait just a moment?" Hanzo carefully let go of Genji's arm; Genji folded them but for the moment he stayed put. Hanzo reached into his pocket for his phone and quickly located the only picture he'd ever bothered to keep on it; It had been quite a long time since he had last opened it, he didn't like to remind himself of Genji's smiling face when he'd done so much to hurt him. He didn't deserve Genji's joy when he all he'd caused was pain... but seeing it now was different when that same face was staring back at him now, alive and well, "Maybe this won't change anything, but I want you to understand..." He turned the phone around to Genji displaying the picture taken almost a decade ago with an identical face to the one currently frowning back at him, "My memory is not faulty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a preview for the next chapter: https://twitter.com/CraigArtasin/status/1145152681369047042?s=20


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been so motivated to write this lately, I got some big ideas for the end but I'm not sure if I want to continue how I planned or if the ending I recently imagined is better... 🤔

Genji was silent as he stared at the picture Hanzo showed him for a moment before he looked away; with his arms folded and his gaze averted he very much evoked a sense of deja vu. Genji looked this exact way when their father scolded him for wasting his life away on drugs, sex, and far too much booze, like the classic teenager who would roll his eyes and give a flippant response... but Genji had already been in his mid twenties when their father finally tried to curb his behavior, he was far too old to behave like such a child... and he was even older now.

Hanzo turned the screen off and shoved the phone back into his pocket, "You see now? I'm not deluding myself... Your facial features, your voice, even the hair color he had when I--when he died... It's all the same." Hanzo shifted in place... funnily enough it took everything in him not to mirror Genji with his arms crossed and gaze averted, though he found it awkward looking at Genji when Genji refused to look back, "I wanted to believe that it was just cosmetic, that they wanted to slap his face onto an Android to make him into the perfect sex toy... but why would they go through the trouble of copying his personality too..?" Hanzo laughed just a little, it was ridiculous to think that anyone would think Genji's personality would be good for a sex doll. If they had been trying to make a profitable toy using a more demure demeanor would have been a better fit, "As much as Genji enjoyed sleeping with anyone he saw fit, he would not make a very good sex toy... he was very much self centered, I don't imagine he ever left an encounter without getting what he wanted out of it." Genji finally shot him a glare for implying that he would behave the same exact way... and Hanzo had to admit that the Genji standing before him was different than the Genji he had known, but not completely. Obviously Cyber Life had tampered with Genji enough to make him a better sex toy... or perhaps time and a lack of memories had changed Genji's personality on its own; regardless there was a lot about Genji that was different, but more about him that was fundamentally the same, "Since we've been together I've noticed things about your personality that are similar to his... eerily so. You aren't exactly the same as he was, but time and circumstance would change anyone; and there's the blood I saw and now this memory too! Even if someone had been stalking him for months to be able to make a copy with his face and voice and mannerisms how could they copy a song that only two living people would know..?"

"I-I don't know..." Genji finally admitted as he fidgeted uncomfortably under Hanzo's stare... Maybe he finally understood and could accept that he might actually be the same Genji, but he was fighting to cling to the only identity he knew, "But none of that makes any sense! Humans bury their dead! Your brother... you must have had a funeral and laid his body to rest! Somewhere out there... in Japan, right? There's a grave with his body in it!"

Hanzo finally had to look away, his face contorted into a grimace as he was faced with one of the many things surrounding Genji's death he hated himself for. There was no grave; if the Genji before him really wasn't the same... if there was a body out there he had no idea where it was, "No... there is not." It would be easier to lie; he could claim Genji was assumed to be assassinated by a rival clan and his body was never recovered. He could hide his sin from Genji until he remembered on his own the real tragedy that had taken place... He could, but lying now would not only be hiding the truth from Genji (he truth he wanted Genji to remember) but it would be as good as admitting he felt no remorse for what had happened, that hiding his shame was far more important than Genji remembering who he was. It was unacceptable to protect himself when he finally had a decent opportunity to convince Genji that he really could be his brother, "He was... left for dead. It's entirely possible that someone found him and saved him..."

He couldn't see Genji's face but he could see the tension in his clenched hands and hear the rise in distress in his voice, it made it easy to imagine the anger and the hurt in his expression; a part of him hadn't ever wanted this Genji to find out what had happened back then, but it really was unavoidable when he wanted Genji to remember who he was. It would be so much easier to lie and continue on with the relationship they'd fallen into and cling to the hope that Genji would never remember what he had done, but he couldn't deny Genji the knowledge of himself... not to protect the man who had hurt him irreparably, "You acknowledge that he could have been saved but you left him to die!?"  
"Yes." Hanzo answered calmly as if he could balance out Genji's hurt with calm rationality; it was probably pointless when talking about something so horrifying, "What happened that day is my greatest sin; I... didn't just leave him to die." Hanzo's voice wavered and he lowered his head as if that would help him to control his emotions, "I was the one to attack him."

Silence fell and Hanzo chanced a look towards Genji, it was exactly as he imagined... Genji looked hurt and angry, but also confused; he couldn't understand why Hanzo would do such a thing when their relationship now was vastly different than it had been back then. He probably couldn't imagine that the man who had been caring for him for months would be capable of such betrayal; and of course he would never consider doing something so brutal again (and he wished he never had) but he was also a different person than he was back then, "Why..?" Genji asked as if anything Hanzo could say would make this better.

"Have you ever looked up any information about me, Genji?" Hanzo asked instead; there was no excuse good enough to justify what he did, no way to turn this story into a positive for Hanzo... but maybe the story would jog Genji's memory, maybe the pain of their history would be enough to break through whatever suppressed Genji's memories.  
"Of course... I looked up your name when you purchased me..." Genji replied, he seemed to have calmed down a little pending an explanation; but Hanzo didn't expect he would be any happier with the answer he inevitably received, "There isn't a lot of public information about you; Shimada Hanzo, 38, born and raised in Hanamura. The former leader of the Shimada Yukuza family... Missing for 8 years last seen fleeing Hanamura. What does that have to do with what happened..?"

"I just wanted to know how much you knew about me before I begin; I'm glad you already know I was Yukuza, it saves me some time." Hanzo replied before he moved to take a seat on the bed and began to speak, "Genji... my brother wasn't at all interested in family politics, as soon as he was an adult and allowed to decide how he spent his days he started spending as much time as possible away from home. He would get drunk and high and sleep with anyone he wanted to and for a while our father was content to allow him to enjoy himself however he wanted..." It was hard to speak of their father... he would be so disappointed knowing what had become of his children. What would he say if he saw them now, engaged in an incestuous relationship in America instead of back in Japan with their own families continuing on the traditions of their ancestors? "But after years of this with no sign of Genji slowing down father became worried that Genji would never grow up and he started to send me after him. Every night I was to bring Genji home... and every night we fought." Hanzo took a deep breath, that part was easy enough to recount. He wasn't ashamed that he had done his part to try and bring Genji into line while their father was alive, it really was self destructive the amount of substances Genji consumed and at the time he really had wanted to save Genji... as angry as he was at Genji for wasting so much of his time chasing after him, he had missed his little brother even more.

"While dying from cancer Father had wanted to know his youngest child would lead a productive life after he was gone; I don't think it mattered to him that Genji didn't want to be involved in the family business. I think he just wanted to know that Genji wouldn't waste his life away after he was gone; weak as he was Father tried all he knew to try and change Genji's behavior, but he died never achieving his goal..." Genji hadn't even been there when he passed, Hanzo had faced the end alone and he had been so angry that Genji couldn't be bothered to be there... it had ultimately contributed to his decision to leave Genji to die alone, "After father passed away it was left completely up to me to try and stop Genji's destructive tendencies; I no longer had time to chase him on my own nor did I have the patience, and I'm sure the thugs I sent to collect him every night weren't anywhere near as... gentle as I was." Hanzo shut his eyes for a moment to try and keep his voice steady and clear, he had never told this story to anyone and he barely allowed himself to think about what had happened as a whole. He would choose a specific moment and berate himself for how horribly he had failed at everything he'd ever stood for, he wasn't sure he would be able to allow himself to live if he took the time to organize every mistake and every crime.

His voice was tight as he spoke next, strained to stay clear when all he wanted was to scream at himself for being so stupid on multiple occasions leading up to Genji's presumed death, "Genji realized I was backing him into a corner, I started to restrict his time out more and more and he became desperate to escape the life I was trying to force him into." And he regretted that he had been so foolish; he could not force Genji to change, he had to want to change for himself, but Hanzo was too impatient for Genji to want to change himself, "He realized that in order to continue doing what he wanted he needed to get rid of the power I had over him... and the power I had largely stemmed from the criminal Empire I had inherited from our father. Now that he was forced to spend more time sober than impaired Genji began to sabotage my men... and it probably wasn't hard to do, he was a ninja too, after all. He would sneak around and ruin everything he could and eventually he began to leak information. Many of my men were arrested and many more were killed by a rival clan... it didn't take me long to figure out what he was doing, he might have been sneaky enough not to get caught outright... but the men I had following him would always lose him shortly before something happened."

Hanzo shifted, it was getting harder to speak; there was a lump in his throat that refused to go away and his eyes burned with the effort it took to stay open with his brows level instead of pinched together in a frown; he could not look at Genji, he didn't want to see the moment when any love Genji might have left for him turned to hatred, "I was furious with him. I had spent years chasing after him to try and help him become a functioning adult... I did not understand that what I was doing had only made things worse... whatever was driving Genji to choose the lifestyle he had only fueled his desire to return to it by any means. All I saw was my own selfish feelings, Genji had betrayed me and it was clear to me that nothing I could do would ever be enough to fix him. Genji did not want my help and..." Hanzo shook his head still so disappointed and angry with himself after all these years, "I could have let him go. I should have let him go! It would have been better to cut ties with him than to cut him down... but I did..!"  
He slammed his hands down on the bed and gripped the edge of the mattress until his knuckles turned white, "I was so angry I thought it was better to kill my own brother than just let him live whatever life he wanted! I thought he was selfish to throw his life away with drugs and alcohol but I was even more so to decide to take it away from him! I had no right to end his life that day... none at all."

Hanzo forcibly removed his hands from their death grip on the mattress and settled them into his lap as calmly as he could manage, folded them neatly as if doing so could erase the self hatred burning beneath his skin. At the very least he didn't deserve to show such anger in front of Genji; if Genji remembered anything from that day he didn't want his anger to trigger any fear. "Now you know what I did to you--to him... and I can apologize every second from now until the day I die... but nothing I say or do can change the decisions I made and the consequences I brought by them. I am sorry Genji..." not only for everything he did back then, but for everything he had done since meeting him again; for pointing an arrow at his head and treating him like just a machine, for allowing that man in the grocery store to push him even once and for allowing the man in that bar to threaten Genji's life, for kissing Genji knowing they were brothers... and for hiding his sins from him for so long just so he could stay with Genji for as long as possible, "I'm sorry for ruining your life..."

Finally Hanzo fell silent, his gaze on the floor and his head hung low; he hoped that Genji would finally remember and finally stop clinging to denial. He deserved to know and he deserved to reject the man who had done so much harm to him; and he deserved so much more than Hanzo was able to give him... but above all he deserved to be happy and free. He could only hope that Genji would finally get what he had wanted after an entire life spent being controlled and hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a preview for next chapter! <3 https://twitter.com/CraigArtasin/status/1146928872782553089?s=20


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might start slowing down on productivity for this, I've been feeling it a little less lately, but that doesn't mean i'm stopping! Updates will just be slowing down... probably. I'm going to try and keep it up but who knows how my productivity will be...

For a long while Genji didn't say anything, but Hanzo kept his head down and waited for his brother to speak; it was a lot to take in so a bit of a wait was to be expected, but Hanzo was anxious to hear what Genji would say. Finally, after several minutes of waiting, Genji replied, "You have to stop this, Hanzo. I'm not him." Hanzo wasn't sure if hearing those words hurt more than Genji acknowledging the truth would have; Genji hating him would be painful, but seeing Genji reject his humanity hurt more; all Genji could remember was a song that had been used to help push him into a life he didn't want... and it was all Hanzo's fault that Genji couldn't remember anything else. Perhaps if he hadn't been so hasty he might have understood the significance of Genji's memory... Perhaps he could have convinced that Android to unlock more of Genji's memories and Genji would remember himself by now.

  
He looked back up at Genji, silently pleading with him to remember... he had to; their eyes met briefly and Genji was quick to look away... perhaps he could no longer stand to look at him, now that he knew what Hanzo had done, "I think... I understand why you are obsessing over this now, though. You want so badly for his forgiveness, but I can't give it to you."

Hanzo shook his head quickly and stood in protest of Genji's assumption; he reached for Genji but hesitated before he could touch his skin... He did not deserve to touch him, he never did. His hands fell back and he lowered his head again; submitting himself to Genji's judgement, "I don't want forgiveness Genji. I couldn't ask that of you..." Forgiveness was a pretty dream someone like him could only fantasize about; in reality the best he could hope for was probably this... that Genji wouldn't remember at all and he would never have to face the pain his brother had caused him. When he thought about it, it was incredibly selfish of him to try and remind Genji of the pain and suffering of that day just so he could remember the life he had always rejected... was it kinder to let him remain unaware of his past? But what of his humanity? Surely, at the very least, Genji would rather be human. He was clinging on to what was familiar to him, but if he could embrace his humanity he wouldn't need to worry at all about the war going on outside this room; he wouldn't need to worry about his safety or his life or the outcome of this war if he would accept his humanity. In fact, it probably wouldn't be too terribly difficult to sneak back into their old home in Japan and find Genji's personal information... due to his lack of compassion all those years ago there was no record of Genji's death, Genji would probably be able to return to Japan and build a life for himself.

"I wanted for you to remember who you are so you don't have to be restricted by programming and a society that's trying to tell you that you don't deserve to exist. I wanted to be able to give you back your life so that no one could ever take it away from you again." Hanzo had been rather certain all this time that when Genji remembered he would be stricken from his life, while he had entertained the possibility of forgiveness it hadn't been his goal. He just wanted to be sure that Genji would be ok, and with Genji playing the part of an android there was no way that Genji would be safe if he were to be ejected out of Genji's life now.

Despite himself Hanzo finally did touch Genji; he took his brother's hands gently and squeezed to prove to not only Genji but also to himself that Genji was human... once and for all. Genji's hands were warm and soft as they always had been... could an android with its thin skin stretched over a metal skeleton really feel this... human..?

"Hanzo, I'm sorry you hurt so much..." Genji's soft, human-like hands squeezed around his own in an effort to be comforting or reassuring; it felt so wrong to hear sympathy after everything he'd revealed about himself, "I had no idea you were carrying something so horrible with you; but please, you have to stop trying to convince me--you have to stop convincing yourself that I'm him, that I'm human. I'm not either." 

"Then..." There couldn't possibly be a metal skeleton under such soft, human hands; he had to be human underneath, "Then you can prove it." Hanzo lifted one of Genji's hands up between them, showing it off as he ran both his thumbs over the back of Genji's hand, "You can do it too, right? If you're an android you can pull back your skin like the man at the bus stop did... and like the Android on TV." Hanzo felt Genji grow tense under his hand and he squeezed in a way he hoped was reassuring, "Then we will both know for certain what you are and it won't have to be such an unknown for me. We can move forward with certainty."

Genji yanked his hand back, holding it close as if it had hurt to hold Hanzo's hand... and perhaps it did, "Why can't you just believe me? I'm so tired of trying to fight you on this; if I show you, you'll just come up with some reason why my "human skin" is hiding beneath my metal skeleton... or something!" Genji moved away from him and collapsed into a flimsy motel chair bolted to the floor; he looked as tired with this argument as he claimed... Hanzo couldn't deny it was tiring that they couldn't resolve this, but hopefully it could be put to rest soon.

"I promise you I won't. If what I see is completely Android I won't question it again..." It would be difficult, but that would be proof that he couldn't deny; and instead of focusing on Genji's supposed humanity he could turn his attention fully towards helping Genji find a place where he could live and be happy, "But if what we see is at all human you have to stop denying that you are." Then it would be completely up to Genji whether or not he wanted to remember everything... or if he even wanted the man who had left him for dead around.

Genji brought his hands to his face with his fingers digging into his green hair; the light on his temple seemed to be permanently red with distress and Hanzo wondered if he was doing more harm than good in uncovering the truth about Genji's humanity, "I-I'll think about it." Genji murmured after a moment, he sounded as if the very act of speaking was draining... and Hanzo had to admit it was exhausting to dig up all those painful memories on top of their escape earlier, "Can we just... go to sleep for now? I don't want to talk about this anymore." It would probably possible to push Genji into revealing himself tonight... if he were selfish he could force the issue, they could stay up for hours arguing over every little detail of Genji's humanity. Finally he would cave and show the secret beneath his skin, but he didn't want to push more than he already had; he'd done so much to hurt Genji he didn't need to add to the list. Besides that, if they were to get out of Detroit tomorrow they should have been asleep an hour or two ago... if Genji would even still be willing to follow him out of here.

"Ok." Hanzo agreed as he moved to sit on the bed again, the topic dropped but certainly not forgotten by either of them, "Are you going to join me?" He wasn't sure if Genji would want to after he'd revealed such a horrible thing but, to his surprise, Genji thought about it only briefly before he stood to join Hanzo on the other side of the bed. Hanzo had to admit he was relieved Genji could still stand to be near him, when they'd started this conversation he truly expected to find himself alone at the end of the night. They lay down next to each other and it wasn't long at all before Genji shuffled in to press against his back and wrap an arm around Hanzo's chest to hold him close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preview for chapter eleven <3 https://twitter.com/CraigArtasin/status/1148713581485182979?s=20


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